This Week in Weird

HINGHAM, Mass. -- Jack Daily has seen a lot of lobsters during his 30 years in the seafood restaurant business, but none like the ‘‘sky blue’’ one a fisherman brought in the other day.

‘‘I have never seen one this blue,’’ Daily said. ‘‘ It’s very, very rare,’’ said Daily, 64, owner of the Hingham Lobster Pound.
It’s one in two million, to be exact. That’s how often you can expect to see a lobster with blue pigmentation.
Edward Figueiredo of Cohasset caught the crustacean Saturday in one of his traps off the coast of Hingham.
‘‘When it’s in the water, it doesn’t look as blue, but when it comes out, it’s like a translucent blue,’’ Daily said.
Dr. Michael Tlusty, director of research at New England Aquarium, said the blue color comes from a single carotenoid pigment, astaxanthin. The pigment is normally red, but a genetic defect causes an extra amount of protein to be produced and that, in turn, causes the blue color.
The lobster Figueiredo caught, which is probably about 7 years old, will turn red if it is boiled, Tlusty said.
Do the Papelbon!
BOSTON -- Forget Red Sox Fever. Forget “Saturday Night Fever.” Forget about “Dancing with the Stars.” It's Red Sox Dance Fever.
Move over, John Travolta, it's Red Sox relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon leaving the mound and taking center stage.
After the Red Sox topped the Cleveland Indians in the seventh game of the American League Championship series before nail-biting home fans Sunday night, No. 58 strutted his stuff with the Papelbon dance.
Experts aren't sure if it's a two-step, a clog dance or the Highland Fling. Heading into the World Series, no one cares. Whatever the name of the dance, the fun-loving right-hander fired up Red Sox Nation and has taken the Papelbon dance craze to a frantic fevered pitch.
Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Natick showed Red Sox fans the art of the Papelbon dance this week, and Nancy Kelley Dance Studio, also in Natick, offered to teach the entire Red Sox team the dance.
Who would steal a big purple toilet?
STUTTGART, Ark. -- They had high hopes, and with good reason. Names were pouring in for the fundraiser — names, which meant money for Relay For Life. That was until the purple toilet — which was being set in individual’s yards, who, in return, could pay money to have it removed — came up missing.
“The big purple toilet is missing,” said Kathy Morris, co-chairwoman for the Stuttgart Relay For Life. “And I don’t know what to do about it.”
The toilet had only made a few trips around town before it came up stolen. Stuttgart residents had even gone to the point of already reserving the toilet to have placed in a family members or friends yard, she said.
This was a popular fundraiser a few years ago, Morris said, and they were relying on it to bring in some much-needed funds.
The purple toilet was donated. The group does not want to use an old toilet and is hoping to possibly have another donated.
Man tries to castrate himself
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- An alleged sex offender who said he was feeling an urge to offend again took a fillet knife to his testicles in an attempt to castrate himself Sunday night.
The 59-year-old man, who lives in the 1600 block of Seven Pines Road, was bleeding profusely when police and paramedics arrived. However, he is expected to survive.
The man successfully removed one testicle and flushed it down the toilet, and the other testicle was severely injured.
He then called a friend for help. Authorities were called about 8:15 p.m. Sunday, and the man was rushed to the hospital.
The man told authorities he was feeling the urge to touch and hurt children. He was not trying to take his life, the man reportedly said, but was trying to stem the urge.
If his grades start to suffer, we know why
LITTLETON, Mass. -- Getting a head start on Halloween pranks, Travis Dube, 17, stood on the Littleton Common waving at traffic in a marijuana leaf costume. He wanted to express his belief that marijuana should be legalized.
Dube, a senior at Littleton High School, said a friend picked up the costume for him, including the large plastic pot leaf and the sign saying, “Legalize.”
But as he waved to motorists with a big smile, some of whom honked and yelled their approval, Dube wanted to be sure it was known that he would not be wearing the costume in the high school Halloween parade.
“I’m not going to wear this to the school parade, knowing it is well against school rules,” he said.
He will, however, don it for a raft of parties that accompany the fall holiday.
GateHouse News Service